Young Ole Devil by J.T. Edson Page A

regiments. What was more, his clan were known to be
supporters of the General’s policies. So the agitator and his
assistants would know why he was interfering and would have
resisted his attempts which could have caused fighting to break out
between the rest of the customers.
    With those thoughts in mind,
Hardin had formulated a plan which he had believed might serve his
purpose. Identifying the Chicano boy’s assailants and making an accurate assessment
of their natures, he had approached them in a manner that was
calculated to make them angry. He had been gambling that the rest
of the customers would prefer to watch a fight than to sit
listening to the agitator talking.,
    ‘ I’d
heard that Bill Cord always made anybody who was spoiling for a
fight take it outside,’ Hardin concluded. ‘And I figured that when
he did, pretty near the whole of the crowd would follow
us.’
    There was a brief silence as
the young man came to the end of his explanation. All the time he
was talking, he was also watching the General. Not that the
scrutiny had produced any result Houston ’s leathery features had remained as
impassive as if he had been one of the Cherokee Indians with whom
he had lived for several years. However, Hardin had heard Bowie
grunt appreciatively on two occasions and figured that there was at
least one person in the room on his side. He had not attempted to
look at Travis. Nor had he heard anything to indicate how the
bow-necked colonel was responding to his story.
    ‘ You
figured it right,’ Bowie declared in a hearty and satisfied voice,
turning his gaze to Travis. ‘And I reckon we can be thankful that
you did.’ Then, seeing that the comment was puzzling Hardin, he
continued, ‘The other boy’s daddy came to tell us what they’d
heard, Devil, which’s why Colonel Travis and I were headed for
the cantina. Had an idea it might be as well to get the fellers out and
away, only I reckoned we could have trouble in getting them to
leave; especially the ones who weren’t in our regiments and had
been drinking. You getting them outside that way helped us do it,
wouldn’t you say, Colonel Travis?’
    ‘ It
helped us,’ Travis conceded almost grudgingly. ‘But there was still
the second fight.’
    ‘ There
was no way we could have avoided it, sir,’ Hardin stated politely.
‘They were the agitator’s men, the ones who’d helped him get the
conversation going the way he wanted at the cantina. I recognized two of them and
figured they weren’t exactly coming to thank me.’
    ‘ What
happened, Devil?’ Bowie inquired, determined that the young man
should be completely exonerated and that Travis should admit he was
wrong.
    ‘ They
pretended to think they’d caught us robbing the barn,’ Hardin
replied. ‘Then the one who looked like an undertaker threw down on
us with a pistol and made us shed our weapons—’
    ‘ You
let them disarm you, knowing what they were going to do?’ Travis
asked.
    ‘ I
thought that it was for the best, sir,’ Hardin answered, without
showing any resentment over the interruption. ‘Way we’d been
acting, particularly cousin Mannen, they didn’t have any notion
that we knew who they really were and putting off our weapons
clinched it. They were sure that we didn’t suspect them. We were
gambling on them not wanting to do any shooting as it would bring
folks to see what was happening when what they wanted was to work
us over with their fists.’
    ‘ There
were still six of them against the two of you,’ Travis pointed out,
but there was a subtle change in his voice and it had become
slightly less critical. ‘I’d say they were very stiff odds, even
without shooting.’
    ‘ Yes,
sir,’ Hardin conceded. ‘But we’d lulled their suspicions and, with
Cousin Mannen acting scared, they were likely to be over confident.
Besides—’
    ‘ Go
on,’ Houston prompted, having observed the change in Travis’
tone.
    ‘ I’d
seen Tommy Okasi coming, sir,’ Hardin